Bloomberg to offer global firms Kenyan intelligence

OBG’s Karine Loehman (centre) with Kenyan officials. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By JAMES KARIUKI

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Summary

• Bloomberg and Oxford Business Group said investors keen on buying stake in any Kenyan company or starting fresh ventures in any sector now have realtime market data to inform their investment decisions.
• The information will be posted daily on the Bloomberg portal.
• Kenya’s business environment provides investors with a wholesome overview from government regulation to the business environment.

Foreign investors can access economic intelligence reports on Kenya after a partnership between financial media company Bloomberg with publishing market research and consulting firm, Oxford Business Group (OBG).

OBG chief executive Andrew Jeffreys said its market information about the Kenya’s business environment provides investors with a wholesome overview from government regulation to the business environment.

He said the information would enable firms to properly strategise on their entry into Kenya.

The two firms said investors keen on buying stake in any Kenyan company or starting fresh ventures in any sector now have realtime market data to inform their investment decisions. The information will be posted daily on the Bloomberg portal.

“Bloomberg’s subscribers have instant, open access to OBG’s reports, economic updates about Kenya. The service, which can be accessed by running OBGR on the terminal, also provides users with blogs written by OBG’s managing editors for various sectors,” it said.

Mr Jeffreys said increased intra-Africa trade had excited interest among foreign investors as it reduced the impact of future external shocks.

“These and other pan-African trends have understandably heightened demand from investors for up-to-date and reliable business intelligence which we are committed to provide through our services, including our partnership with Bloomberg,” he said.

OBG, which has a presence in 35 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas offers comprehensive macroeconomic and sectoral analysis on developments, including banking, capital markets, tourism, energy, transport, industry and ICT.

On her part, OBG’s regional director Karine Loehman welcomed ongoing economic reforms in Kenya saying expansion of value addition industries and services as well as improved infrastructure created a good opportunity for foreign direct investments.

“Economic reforms are well under way in several African countries, including Kenya, Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire, where services and valued-added industries are expanding, while in Nigeria, we see the groundwork being laid for diversification,” she said.